NPS hit by weak chaebol stocks

By Chung Ah-young

Chairman Choi Kwang

The National Pension Service (NPS) has posted 1.6 trillion won worth of stock investment losses over the last nine months from its stock holdings in the nation’s top 10 chaebol companies, data showed Sunday.

The market value of its holdings in the listed units of the nation’s top 10 conglomerates stood at 46.6 trillion won as of September, down by 3.3 percent or 1.6 trillion won from the end of last year, according to chabol.com, a research institute that monitors the business activities of conglomerates.

The state-run NPS, headed by Chairman Choi Kwang, purchased stock in Hyundai Motor, Samsung, SK, LG, GS, Hanjin and Hanwha Group. It also sold some shares in POSCO and Hyundai Heavy Industries during this period.

The pension operator raised its holdings in listed affiliates of Samsung Group from 6.06 percent to 6.11 percent. But the value dropped by 7.86 percent or 1.6 trillion won from 20.4 trillion won at the end of last year to 18.8 trillion won in September.

The NPS’s major loss was attributed to its increased stake in Samsung Electronics from 7.7 percent to 7.81 percent during the cited period, because its holdings were valued at 13.6 trillion won, a fall from 15.5 trillion won.

Also, the NPS’s stock holdings in three listed affiliates of Hyundai Heavy Industries were valued at 800 billion won in September, down by 48.6 percent from the end of last year.

Also, the value of the shares of Hyundai Heavy Industries held by the NPS plunged from 1.2 trillion won to 530 billion won.

The value of stock holdings in three Hyundai Motor affiliates dropped by 260 billion won, from 10.29 trillion won to 10.03 trillion won.

The pension operator has increased its holdings of Hyundai Motor shares this year but its value fell by 596 billion won to 3.3 trillion.

The NPS reaped unrealized gains from its investment in the units of SK Group. The value of the stocks of SK’s listed affiliates stood at 6.4 trillion won as of September, rising by 705 billion won in the nine months from 5.7 trillion won.

SK Hynix helped boost the value of its stock holdings. The value of its holdings in the chipmaker increased by 664 billion won, to 3.1 trillion won as of September.

The stock value in the listed affiliates of LG Group held by the NPS also rose from 4.8 trillion won to 5.3 trillion won during the same period. The NPS increased its stake in LG Electronics from 8.80 percent to 9.60 percent and in LG Display from 6.90 percent to 8.06 percent.

The pension operator also increased its stake by 0.09 percentage points in Korean Air to 7.5 percent this year.

The NPS, the world’s fourth-largest pension operator, holds assets worth over approximately 400 trillion won.